The annual pile of partial answers
Year end arrives for a batch of clients. The practice sends out the standard year-end checklist: bank statements, loan statements, fixed asset additions, stock count, debtors and creditors, director's loan movements, anything unusual. Clients reply with some of it. Others send a folder of everything, including things you did not need. Some reply with questions about what the list means.
Then the back and forth begins. A manager writes a list of what is still outstanding and emails it. A few more items arrive. Another list, another email. Meanwhile the accounts deadline gets closer and staff time gets squeezed into the weeks before filing.
Why year-end collection is so slow
- The same generic checklist goes to every client, so much of it does not apply and the relevant parts get lost.
- Last year's answers are not used, so clients repeat information that has not changed.
- Clients cannot see what is still outstanding without reading back through email threads.
- Documents arrive through email, post and file shares and have to be sorted and filed by hand.
- Chasing depends on individual managers, so some clients are chased well and others not at all.
- Nobody has an overview across all year-ends of which clients are ready to start.
What it costs
Work cannot start until the information is complete, so jobs bunch up close to filing deadlines, creating overtime and rushed reviews. Staff time is spent on collection rather than on accounts. Deadlines are put at risk by a handful of slow clients. And clients who find the process confusing are more likely to feel the fee is high.
| Question | Generic checklist | Tailored request |
|---|---|---|
| Do you have loans? | Asked every year | Pre-filled with last year's lenders to confirm |
| Fixed asset additions | Open question | Purchases over your threshold from Xero listed to confirm |
| Director's loan | Open question | Movements from the ledger shown for explanation |
| Stock | Asked of everyone | Only asked where the client holds stock |
| Bank statements | Request all | Only for accounts without a bank feed |
How we build year-end collection
- We read each client's profile from your practice management system, such as IRIS, CCH, Karbon, Senta, TaxCalc or your own records, and their ledger from Xero, QuickBooks or Sage where available.
- A tailored questionnaire is generated per client, with questions only where they apply, and answers pre-filled from last year for the client to confirm or change.
- Specific ledger items are listed for explanation, such as large purchases, unusual payments or director's loan movements.
- Each document request has its own upload slot, so files arrive labelled against the item.
- The client portal shows progress, so the client can see what they have done and what is left.
- Reminders go out on a schedule, only for outstanding items, with escalation to the client manager when a client stays behind.
- A tracker across all year-ends shows which clients are complete, which are partly done and which have not started, so work can be scheduled.
- Documents are filed to your document management system with consistent names.
Where it helps, a model reads uploaded statements and flags obvious gaps, such as a missing month, for a person to check. It does not do the accounting judgement.
We also think about the client's side of the screen. Questions are written in plain English, with a short note on why you are asking, because a client who understands why a stock figure matters answers it properly the first time. Anything a client cannot answer can be marked 'not sure', which creates a question for their manager rather than a silent gap.
What year-end looks like afterwards
Clients receive a list that makes sense for them, answer the easy parts quickly, and see exactly what remains. Managers stop writing chasing emails and instead look at a tracker of who is ready. Jobs move into the work queue as soon as the information is complete, which spreads the workload rather than bunching it near filing deadlines.
The following year is easier again, because this year's answers become next year's pre-filled starting point.
Is this your practice?
- The same year-end checklist goes to every client.
- Managers write outstanding-item lists by hand, several times per client.
- Clients ask what parts of the checklist mean.
- Documents arrive unlabelled through several channels.
- Work bunches up close to filing deadlines because information arrives late.